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19 Piedmont Street, Boston – Cocoanut Grove Controversy

Kevin Cullen of The Boston Globe wrote an excellent piece about the controversy at 19 Piedmont Street, Boston yesterday entitled “Cocoanut Grove plaque shoved down the street“. It seems as though a plaque was laid in the sidewalk in front of the site of the old Cocoanut Grove nightclub back in 1993 but was removed at the behest of the developers of a new residential condominium building. A tragic fire took the lives of 492 souls at Cocoanut Grove on the night of Saturday, November 28th, 1942.

25 Piedmont Street, Boston – Cocoanut Grove Memorium

I can imagine a discussion between the two principals of Piedmont Street, LLC that might’ve taken place as they were huddling around the plaque in the sidewalk shortly after they bought 19 Piedmont Street, Boston for $1,700,000 on the brisk afternoon of December 28th, 2012.

I wonder how many of the original buyers knew that the property was the site of the Cocoanut Grove fire before they decided to make offers? I wonder how many of the original buyers knew that their was a plaque previously embedded in the sidewalk in front of their new condominium? I wonder how many of the original buyers knew that the plaque would eventually be reinstalled?

I bet many of the eventual original buyers knew nothing about the Cocoanut Grove fire. Nothing. I bet many of them never knew that it happened in Boston. I bet many of them never knew that it happened on the site of their expensive new condominiums.

There’s power in a place. Standing in the footsteps of the people who’ve come before us in a historic or ignominious location is a powerful feeling. To be where they were. It gives us a sense of connection. People report a sense of being in the presence of Michelangelo when they look up at the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

19 Piedmont Street, Boston – Cocoanut Grove Lounge

It reminds me of that famous monologue in Good Will Hunting by Robin Williams.

Some may want to compare the removal of the plaque from 19 Piedmont Street to a similar situation at the Vendome building, located at 160 Commonwealth Avenue, which is located at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Dartmouth Street. The Hotel Vendome fire killed eight Boston firefighters on June Saturday, 17th, 1972. The site of the new Vendome monument, which was dedicated on Tuesday, June 17th, 1997, allows for introspection and peace as visitors are allowed to inspect the monument amongst the grass and trees in the Commonwealth Avenue Mall with the ability, due to its location, to peer up at the Vendome building. There’s no such availability for a location like that on Piedmont Street because it’s such a tight street. There’s no comparison between the current site of the plaque commemorating the fire at Cocoanut Grove and the monument commemorating the fire at the Vendome Hotel.

Jasper Bhogal, the developer at 19 Piedmont Street, has had previous experience working on Piedmont Street. He was one of the three principals of the 12 Piedmont Street, Boston development. The three principals of 12 Piedmont Street were: Gerry DiPierro of DiPierro Construction; Jasbir Bhogal of Gibson – Sotheby’s International Realty; and Nicholas Colavito, Manager of Urban Property Management Corp.

Three of the five condominium units at 12 Piedmont Street, Boston are currently for sale, unusually, only a few years after the completion of the project and eventual sale of the five units.

12 Piedmont Street, Unit 2, Boston is on the market at $1,550,000

12 Piedmont Street, Unit 4, Boston is on the market at $1,299,000

12 Piedmont Street, Unit 5, Boston went under agreement on June 22nd, 2016; it’s on the market at $1,199,000

Is it a coincidence that 60% of the units at 12 Piedmont Street, Boston are on the market?

12 Piedmont Street, Boston – 12 Piedmont Condominium

Jasbir Bhogal and Thomas Calus are working together for a third time on Piedmont Street since they recently bought, through their Piedmont Street, LLC, a property at 57-59 Piedmont Street for $4,000,000 in 2015.

Moving the plaque away from the site of the revolving door of the old Cocoanut Grove nightclub at 19 Piedmont Street, Boston, wherein those revelers stepped in for a night of dancing and fun only to rush out in fear of their lives, to a location down the street from the site of the tragic fire removes any sense of place. I disagree with the Piedmont Park Square Condominium Trust and the Bay Village Neighborhood Association. Maybe the City of Boston should intervene?

About Jonathan Bowen

Comments

I know this reply is 2 years late in coming, but I will still feel better to put my 2 cents in. I think it’s terrible first of all, that a space wasn’t left to mark a piece of the original footprint of the Cocoanut Grove. Those people should be remembered forever for what the went through that horrible, horrible night in 1942 and through the years that followed. There should have been some respect from the planners and builders of the site, instead of the almighty dollar, which was also the reason for all the death and maiming that went on that night. I’m so tired of people coming into an area, disregarding the history of the place , if it doesn’t match what they want out of it. The Cocoanut Grove was right there. You chose to purchase and build and live there. You can’t erase that the ground beneath you has a history. And it should be honored in memory of those there that night.